Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Little Comforts

the government of my country can't stop posturing and pontificating long enough to take effective action,

the media predicts that by Christmas we shall all be living in old shoeboxes awaiting the Apocalypse, and

yesterday when I picked up the long-neglected Wedding Ring Shawl to do a little work, I realized I'd skipped an entire row in the effing chart. Again.

At such a moment, pictures like this go a long way toward keeping me from running mad in the street.

Fall has arrived in New England, and Abigail has inaugurated her Panopticon Hoodie (details are in this old entry if you want 'em). Some things are still moving right along, thank you very much. The trees are turning, I am knitting, my little niece is walking and talking and playing and making me happy I'm on the planet.

I still look at those buttonholes with a twinge of pride. They weren't hard–I used this variation on Maggie Righetti's one-row method–but they were my first and buttonholes are one of those things in knitting that exude an air of difficultà.

In case you were practical and did not major in Art History whilst in college, difficultà is a term that is used to describe (among other things) the exaggerated, complex, often tortured postures and proportions that characterized (some would say, infected) art created in the Mannerist period that followed the High Renaissance.

Simply put, the Mannerists were a bunch of show-offs. They painted this kind of thing just to prove they could.

Madonna del Collo Lungo (Madonna with the Long Neck) by Parmigianino. Uffizi, Florence. Guess why they call her that.

Here's my off-the-cuff list of some things in knitting that count as difficultà. They're not necessarily difficult, but they look like they must have been. What else should be here?

I don't really understand the upset with the economy right now. I've always been poor and suspect I will be in the future. I don't see how any bail-out plan will help me...but if you find one that frees ME of my mortgage, let me know. *sigh*

Oh Franklin... you totally just made my day. :) I laughed out loud at this post. Just what I needed after the stock market crashed and struggling with putting tiny beads on "gnat eyelash" yarn for a shawl. :) Love it..

So far this art-history PhD student has simply ignored the financial stuff. My thoughts run something like, "Well, welcome to my world of poverty and debt, people!" Of course, I'm supposed to graduate this year and get a job, and we all know which jobs get cut first at institutions of higher learning...

Bubbles of memory surface from strange depths. 40 years ago I helped my Art History major roommate study for finals, which is the only way I know that Madonna of the Long Neck was painted in 1535. Thanks for jogging that neuron.

And we Baby Boomers are used to disasters striking our major life milestones. (Happy Graduation! Welcome to Viet Nam and price freezes) (Ready to settle down and buy a house? 16% mortgage rates) and now as retirement beckons, fiscal collapse combined with global warming.

Keeping writing the blog! You are the silver lining in the dark clouds.

The neck doesn't really strike me as long but the legs have me wondering. Is she 8 feet tall? Is that only because I spent too much time in the sciences and not in art? Nothing so refined as difficulta in the sciences. We had things like, "man, that's a tough one." Doesn't have the same elegance.

Joy is one of those things that I have long wished to everyone on their birthdays and at the holidays, and yarn sure makes me more joyful!

Abigail looks lovely. Ellen (Purl Diva) mentioned that she was hoping you would come to a book signing at the shop. Oh please, oh please! After living in Boston and Chicago it would tickle my funny bone to finally meet you in Maine.

all the first things are so awful and we are bombarded with this apocalyptic feeling all over the western world.

forgetting a whole row of a chart in a wedding shawl sounds horrid. but good that knitting and yarn can make you happy too.

and i love the little fairy and understand exactly what you mean by being happy about being on this planet when seeing her. this is how my great niece makes me feel. exactly. i recognise everything you say. that is so nice.

I like the Uffizi. I particularly liked Titians Venus. There is a story that says it was commissioned by some Duke as an instructional painting for his much younger bride but its probably just a story. Mark Twain described it as “fill upon the foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses” Don’t you love Renaissance.

Abigail continues to grow into an adorable little girl (wasn't she a baby yesterday?) and the sweater looks perfect on her. And yes, Joy can be found everywhere but a little yarn always makes it sweeter.

Nieces are wonderful, and when they grow up they have babies, some of whom are Great Nieces, who are even better. I have one who's three, and when I was talking to her mother on the telephone the other day she asked to speak to me. We chatted; I asked her if she had a good day at nursery and she told me she had a new Jasmine doll, and then she said 'K, BAI' and as she passed the phone back to her mother I heard her say, 'Who was that?'

I was all sorts of pleased with myself at the Common Cod Fiber Guild meeting, because my entrelac stole in progress was admired by several fellow knitters.And knitting socks on the subway always gets compliments.

Whenever I see this painting (Madonna del Collo Lungo by Parmigianino) I think--or sometimes scream out loud--"YOU'RE GOING TO DROP BABY JESUS!" Now, I'm not Catholic, but I'm sure that is a mortal sin, dropping baby Jesus on His head.

I got to definite my own major... in the 60's no less. It was sort of art history post Renaissance. I never learned the term difficulta, but always liked the mannerist tone of L. Cranach. Yay pot bellies!And beads and gnats eyelashes.Will you be at the opening of Religulous?

I just bought that book, thinking it was more about design and less about difficultà patterns. That cover sweater, with three fat cables at the wrists, is definitely in the "more cables than the Book of Kells" category. Oh, well....

O for petessakes, Franklin, don't you know what that painting does to a Jewish mother???? I want to shout at her "OY VEY, woman, that child is SKINNY! Feed him something right NOW! If he's that tall he probably has teeth, a little brisket would be nice, and some chicken soup, maybe a nice pastrami on rye? Corned beef?" (And yes, Abigail is nothing less than a stunner.)

Well, damn my garters, I majored in art history and the word difficultà was never mentioned. Let this be a lesson to all future art history majors: shun the Big Ten schools. They may be fine for chemical engineers and health professionals and elementary teachers, but they suck at art history. (I do know what Mannerism is, though.)

In case you were wondering, my BA in art history was worth squat in the real world. I went back to school, got a BS in business, and passed the CPA exam; I now happily crunch numbers while appreciating art and fine yarn.

Ah, the economy. I just keep telling myself that moving my small amounts of money around would just make it worse, so I think I will concentrate on joy: yarn, good friends, a warm home cooked meal, and a nice apple crisp for dessert (or brownie with ice cream). It's good to keep the perspective.

My difficulta still includes fair isle, because I haven't tried it yet. I'm sure that is what really makes something difficult - lack of experience.

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